Follow Barack Obama prior and during his tenure as the 44th President of the United States. Read about my personal observations along with every day facts as they happen. This blog will only submit factual information about the first black President, now in his 2nd term of office.

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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Governor Rod Blagojevich makes history, as he joins an eleet group of governors who have been impeached. The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly on Friday January 9th in the decision. But is he gone? Not apparently, at least not at the moment. In a likely scandal that involved President Clinton, the President was impeached, but out of shear defiance, told the country that he is innocent of the charges and he will be exonerated. Interesting, now the the governor has been impeached by the Illinois House. Now, events are now setting up for an unprecedented trial in the state Senate. What are the charges? First, he is being accused of abuse of power, and second, that he tried to sell President-elect Obama's Senate seat. There is overwhelming evidence that he has abused his power as governor, and the facts on this case will come out eventually. There have been conversations at the governors mansion that were recorded unknowingly by the secret service.
Instead of admitting fault, he is completely defiant, saying that 'I will be properly exonerated' at the Senate trial. He honestly believes that he is being impeached because of the good he has done for families. He says that he knew that the House would impeach him as he feels that the members of the House have been against him and his policies a long time, ever since his re-election. In the vote, the tally was 114 for impeachment, and just only 1 single vote for not to impeach.
One of the reasons why the legislators want him gone is because he has betrayed public trust, by letting his ego and his ambition to drive his decisions. He is what you might call a 'maverick' governor. Regardless of what the legislators believe, he will do what he feels is right, not taking into consideration the reasons why they do not agree with him.
Nevertheless, the Senate trial about to take place will most likely yield the same results, and that will be impeachment which would have him removed from office.
His federal charges came to light when he was arrested December 9, 2008, as there is evidence that he planned to make money by selling Obama's Senate seat. Wiretaps conclude that a conversation existed that shows the governor talking about what kind of money he could get for the seat, how to con people in campaign contributions.
It appears that the last major ruling may be the Roland Burris' appointment. Not much seems to be able to be done with unseating Burris from the position, even if he has not been invited to serve in the Senate because he lacks a signature, Secretary of State Jesse White needed to participate.
I believe that eventually he will be seated, but not when Blagodevich is in office. Most likely he will be expelled from the Governors mansion within the next few weeks. Watch an explanation of events in an MSNBC.com video, then read House resolution HR1671 which confirms his impeachment.

2 WHEREAS, Section 14 of Article IV of the Illinois
3 Constitution provides that the House of Representatives has the
4 sole power to conduct legislative investigations to determine
5 the existence of cause for impeachment; and

6 WHEREAS, In furtherance of that power, on December 15,
7 2008, the House of Representatives of the Ninety-Fifth General
8 Assembly unanimously adopted House Resolution 1650 creating a
9 Special Investigative Committee for the purpose of (i)
10 investigating allegations of misfeasance, malfeasance,
11 nonfeasance, and other misconduct of Governor Rod R.
12 Blagojevich and (ii) making a recommendation as to whether
13 cause exists for impeachment; and

14 WHEREAS, In recognition of the gravity of the inquiry, the
15 Special Investigative Committee made a thorough investigation
16 by holding hearings, taking evidence, hearing arguments, and
17 faithfully deliberating; and

18 WHEREAS, The Special Investigative Committee gave the
19 Governor the opportunity to appear before the Committee and
20 participate in its proceedings and afforded the Governor more
21 than adequate procedural rights and safeguards; and

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1 WHEREAS, The Governor declined several invitations of the
2 Special Investigative Committee to personally appear before
3 the Committee; and

4 WHEREAS, The Special Investigative Committee developed an
5 extensive record of documentary evidence, written and oral
6 testimony, written and oral argument, and transcripts of its
7 proceedings (the "Committee Record"); and

8 WHEREAS, In accordance with House Resolution 1650, the
9 Special Investigative Committee has filed its Final Report with
10 the House of Representatives (the "Final Report"), which is
11 adopted and incorporated as if fully set forth herein; and

12 WHEREAS, The Final Report of the Special Investigative
13 Committee recommends that Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor of the
14 State of Illinois, be impeached for cause; and

15 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives is empowered under
16 Section 14 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution to
17 impeach Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor of the State of Illinois;
18 therefore, be it

19 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21 Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor of the State of Illinois, is

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1 impeached for cause and that the following article of
2 impeachment be exhibited to the Senate for trial as provided in
3 the Illinois Constitution so that the Senate may do justice
4 according to law:

5
ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF
6
REPRESENTATIVES IN THE NAME OF ITSELF AND THE PEOPLE OF THE
7
STATE OF ILLINOIS AGAINST ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, GOVERNOR OF THE
8
STATE OF ILLINOIS, IN MAINTENANCE OF THE IMPEACHMENT OF HIM FOR
9
CAUSE.

10
ARTICLE ONE

11 Based on the totality of the evidence contained in the
12 Record of the House Special Investigative Committee created
13 under House Resolution 1650 (the "Committee Record") and as
14 summarized in the Final Report of the Special Investigative
15 Committee filed with the House of Representatives on January 8,
16 2009 (the "Final Report"), in his conduct while Governor of the
17 State of Illinois, Rod R. Blagojevich, has abused the power of
18 his office in some or all of the following ways:

19 1) The Governor's plot to obtain a personal benefit in
20 exchange for his appointment to fill the vacant seat in the
21 United States Senate, as more fully detailed in the Final
22 Report at Section IV-A and in the Committee Record as a whole.

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1 2) The Governor's plot to condition the awarding of State
2 financial assistance to the Tribune Company on the firing of
3 members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board, as more fully
4 detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-B and in the
5 Committee Record as a whole.

6 3) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
7 for campaign contributions, namely the signing of legislation
8 related to the diversion of casino gambling revenues to the
9 horse racing industry, as more fully detailed in the Final
10 Report at Section IV-C-1 and in the Committee Record as a
11 whole.

12 4) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
13 for campaign contributions, namely the awarding of a State
14 tollway contract and the expansion of a tollway project, as
15 more fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-C-2 and
16 in the Committee Record as a whole.

17 5) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
18 for campaign contributions, namely the release of pediatric
19 care reimbursements to Illinois doctors and hospitals, as more
20 fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-C-3 and in the
21 Committee Record as a whole.

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1 6) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
2 for campaign contributions, namely the appointment to a
3 position with the Illinois Finance Authority, as more fully
4 detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-C-4 and in the
5 Committee Record as a whole.

6 7) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
7 for campaign contributions, namely the awarding of State
8 contracts, as more fully detailed in the Final Report at
9 Section IV-C-5 and in the Committee Record as a whole.

10 8) The Governor's plot to trade official acts in exchange
11 for campaign contributions, namely the awarding of State
12 permits and authorizations, as more fully detailed in the Final
13 Report at Section IV-C-6 and in the Committee Record as a
14 whole.

15 9) The Governor's refusal to recognize the authority of the
16 Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to suspend or prohibit
17 rules, his utter disregard of the doctrine of separation of
18 powers, and his violation of the Illinois Administrative
19 Procedure Act by unilaterally expanding a State program, as
20 more fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-D and in
21 the Committee Record as a whole.

22 10) The Governor's actions with regard to, and

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1 responsibility for, the procurement of flu vaccines, as more
2 fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-E and in the
3 Committee Record as a whole.

4 11) The Governor's actions with regard to, and
5 responsibility for, the I-SaveRx Program, as more fully
6 detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-F and in the
7 Committee Record as a whole.

8 12) The Governor's actions with regard to, and
9 responsibility for, the Agency Efficiency Initiatives, as more
10 fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-G and in the
11 Committee Record as a whole.

12 13) The Governor's violation of State and federal law
13 regarding the hiring and firing of State employees, as more
14 fully detailed in the Final Report at Section IV-J and in the
15 Committee Record as a whole.

16 Under the totality of the evidence, some or all of these
17 acts of the Governor constitute a pattern of abuse of power.

18 Wherefore, this abuse of power by Rod R. Blagojevich
19 warrants his impeachment and trial, removal from office as
20 Governor, and disqualification to hold any public office of
21 this State in the future.